4

Group Effectiveness and

Managing Groups
Chapter Contents:

Concept of Group Effectiveness;Concept of Intergroup Dynamics;Concept of Cultural

Diversity; Summary;SelfAssessment.

LearningObjectives
After reading the chapter students should be able to understand
-

Group efectiveness
How to make group effective
Intergroup dynamics
Group diversity

4.1 Group Effectiveness- Meaning

According to Aube et al., "Group effectiveness is the capacity a team has to accomplish the goals or
is an essential
e s administered by an authorized personnel or the organization." workgroup
A
but at
L1r Success
of any organisation as effective groups make organisations more productive,
the same
time, it is also a challenging task.
 64 Leadrrship and Tram Derelopment

three criteria:
Hackman (1987) defined gro1p effectiveness based on
) Output: Whether the group's productron meets or exceeds the organisation's qu
qualitative kev standard twe and
to work together based how
(i) Socinl Process: The group members ability on ow the
the team
s.

interact ith cach other. memher

(i) Leerning: 1f the experience
of the group working together is satisfactory and and iif it
group members knowledge.
enhances
A group is a collection of people with different mindsets and behavior. Most research
hat
distinct to individual decision making; it helps solve prohien
advantage compared
group has a

creativity. and bring innovative

ideas due to diverse minds and personalities. An influential oe
to accomplish company goals that lead to customer satisfaction and organisational succese tnelp
it is the most significant challenge for management to learn hOW to manage and use grouns wever
effectively. There are a few things that the management should ensure to be present in an organisat more
structure to make the existing groups effective.
tional
Following are few such conditions that are necessary for establishing an effective group:

There should be adequate clarity in the task and expected outcome.

2 Structure of the group should be appropriate.
3 Group must be goal and process aligned.
4 There must be open communication for ensuring goal and process alignment.
5. Ensure there is an adequate response of the group to environmental change

6. High group potency.

4.2 Threats to Group Effedtiveness

to fix.
Many threats hinder a group that affects the group's unity and harmony. Most of them are hard
These threats lead to massive financial loss, high conflicts, high employee turmover, absenteism, and
sometimes can also cause a company's demise.

Following are the different threats to group effectiveness:

1. Groupthink
Albert Einstein
When we think alike, no one thinks very much."
Irving Janis developed the concept of "Groupthink' in the year 1972. It refers to a psycholo
phenomenon in which people strive for consensus. It tells about how groups make errors while
ng
collective decisions. In many cases, people set aside their personal beliefs and follow opinions d
less
irom dominating group members. They don't want to break the
group's uniformity, resultingihmighi
diversified and conservative plan. People prefer to keep quiet when they fear that their objecuo
them..
disturb the group's harmony or suspect that their ideas
might cause other members to
reject
other words, groupthink occurs when a tor
makes ineffective or
group faulty decisionsjust tne
Teaching an agreement. According to Janis, not every group suffers from groupthink; it Is g
groups with high group cohesiveness and esprit de corps.
 Group Effectiveness and Managing Groups || 65

Janis's Groupthink Model

Antecedents
Observable consequences
Groupthink symptom:
Cohesive Group 1. Over estimation of group:
lusion of invulnerability, Belief
in own morality.
Structure faults 2. Closed-Mindedness:
Insulation
Collective rationallzation,
Stereotyping of out-groups.
Lack of impartial leadershipp
3. Unlformlty pressures:
Lack of decision method 1. Self censorship
Homogeneous members
2. 1llusion of unanimity
3. Direct pressure
4. Mind-guards

irence
Provocative context
seeking Symptom
making:
of defoctive decision

Extemal threat
Incomplete survey of
Low self esteem from altenatives
previous failure Incomplete survey of objectives
Failure to examine risk of
Poor decision preferred choice
outcome Poor information search

Z Selective information bias

Failure to workout contingency
plan
Source: Jains, I.L.,(1972); P.244

Figure 4.1

Janis identified eight syTmptoms of groupthink that can be classified as:

1. The Illusion of Invulnerability: Group members feel they are invulnerable that makes them
excessively optimistic and encourage extreme risk-taking.
2. Collective Rationalization: Group members make up explanations for their decision to make
them appear rational and correct. They ignore and discount warnings and negative feedback that
may be suicidal for the group.
3. Belief in Inherent Morality: Group members feel they are morally correct in their action,
which leads to ignorance of the ethical implication of their decisions.
4. Direct Pressure on Dissenters: Individual feel peer pressure and don't express concern, doubt,
orpose questions about the group's shared views. If anyone does so, he/she is often seen as
disloyal to the group.
[Link]-Censorship: Group members do not express their concern and doubt about the course
of action.
Individual members undermine the importance and validity of their doubt, which
prevents critical analysis of the decision.
.dusion of Unanimity: Group members believe that the majority view and judgments of the
BOup are unanimous. Group members' silence is often constructed as his/her consent.

Self-appointed mind guards': Some group members self appoint themselves to protect or
snield the group from information that may be problematic or contradictory to the group's view,
decisions, and cohesiveness.
Stereotyping of out groups: Members of in-group may ignore or even demonize out-group
members who may oppose or challenge the group's idea.
 66 || Leadership and Team Development

Groupthink is the biggest challenge for groups. lt makes the group ineffective. Foll

strategies that can be adopted by an organisation to prevent groupthink: owing are a

few
Recruit a diverse group: Organisations need lo recruit people with diverse interest
sts,
and passion for getting benefited by people with a multi attitude perspective experience,

viewpoints from diverse groups help in making critical decisions. mative

i) Gather outsider's opinion: Group members feel pressure to go against the oru
the group's view
Sometimes it is better to call a person from outside the group who may be fro
organisation to attend the meeting and give his/her opinion about the group's vie same
iew. These
outsider members will not be influenced by group ideas and may provide independent thou
and ideas.
ii) Make time for individual evaluation: n the moOdern work
environment, brainstormir
sharing, anddecision-making part of group meetings. Extrovert group members rming,
are
ea
express themself, whereas introvert members can't express themselves. The
best way to solve
this problem is to provide the meeting's agenda in advance to the
group members to have enoiuh
time to prepare and contribute fully to its
decision-making process.
(iv) Encourage debates: Earlier research suggested that criticism should be
avoided durino
brainstorming sessions, but new research proves that discussions enhance
instead of inhibiting
creativity.
decision-making
2. Social Loafing
Social loafing is a phenomenon in which individuals exert lesS
energy or effort to accomplish the
task when working in a group rather than
working individually. Social loafing denies the traditional
belief that all group members
put higher efforts and efficiently achieve the mission in a larger group.
Max Ringalmann came out with the
concept of social loafing by conducting the 'experiment of rope
pulling' in 1923, wherein he asked the participants to pull the rope
identified that when people were individually and again in a group. He
part of agroup, they were putting less effort than they did
When the group becomes more individualy
extensive, each individual puts in less effort assuming that their actions
are not visible. Social
loafing makes the group ineffective.
During Covid-19 pandemic, when social
distancing became necessary and remote Working wa
promoted in all organisations, fear of social
in the article of
loafing arose in the top management. Even it was sugees
Forbes Magazine, March 2020, "Just
because your team is suddenly remote and i
only be so for a relatively short
period, you shouldn't ignore passive-aggressive
soctal
unchecked, it will destroy the morale and iOds
productivity of even the best
team
rolowing lug of War image can be considered an example of social Loafing wherem dual
ncmbers do not give their 100% just because thev are part of a group and the individual enor
being monitored nor rewarded.
 Group Efectiveness and Managing Groups || 67
Example of Social Loafing

Figure 4.2

Apcarding to the Collective Efforts Model (CEM), link between an individual's efforts and their
automes is weaker when working with/others in a group.

Individual Working Alone

Efforts Performance Outcome

Figure 4.3

An Individual Working in a Group

Share of
Group Available
Efforts Performance
Rewards

Figure 4.4

Som
ome researchers advised the following ways to prevent social loafing in groups:

Defineeach task clearly to group members.

Monitor the individual's task systematically in a group.
3.
Assign individual responsibility.
4.
Create a feeling of oneness' in a group, i.e., high cohesiveness in a group.
5. EWarding
R or highlighting the individual member's progress in a group
6.
Evaluat
n g every individual member's efforts in accomplishing group
tasks.
 68 1| Leadership and Team Developmen
3. Miscommunication
In any group. the members are interdependent in
is not appropriate. or there is miscommunication in the
accomplishing
the lask.
Stuppose communicati.
group. In that case, it may cro flow
eate
amongst the members. leading to confusion and failure to meet lask de:
effectiveness. Personality clashes, lack of task clarity, power issues,
deadlines,
and also affec
ct group
problem
wrongly interpreted inform
not receiving adequate information, and sometimes technology glitch
spam folder may be the reason for miscommunication in the group.
like essential emails
sen
mation,
Strategies to prevent miscommunication in the group are:
Develop good personal communication.
. Conduct meetings frequently to clear doubts that also helps to increase
group coordination
Emphasis on active listening and reducing error.

4. Conformity

Conformity amongst the group members also makes the group ineffective. Conformity is a
termwherein an individual follows the group's psychological
unspoken rules and procedure to which he/she belongs.
Individuals feel social pressure from the group and conform to the decisions
suitability and accuracy. It is also called irrespective of their
peer pressure that indirectly restricts the group's efficiency.
5. Diversity within Workgroup
Managing a diverse group is challenging, it needs a balancing approach.
perspective, creativity, flexibility, and enhances problem-solving by collective Diversity bringsOn the
new

other hand, it also adds to the coordination decision-making.

value diferences. For making the
problems, miscommunication because of language bariers,
group effective, it is essential to manage the diverse
workgroup.
6. Group Cohesiveness
How the group functions also
depends upon the degree of cohesion. Highly cohesive groups have been
found to express much
greater solidarity. There is more generous sharing and support for each
Cohesive groups influence members to such an extent that, to a certain point, people think alikeother.
and
Similarly do things. High cohesion in the group results in increased productivity and vice versa.

Groupthink

Group Social
Cohesiveness Loafing

Threats to
Group
Effectiveness
Miscommu-
nication Conformity

Diversity

Figure 4.5
 Group Effectiveness and Managing Groups || 69

4 3 I n t e r g r o u pD y n a m i c s - M e n

are also called intergroup relations. It refers the behavioral and psychological
to
aamics
Inergroup
1wo or more groups. A high degree of intergroup dynamic is essential for the
relationship between

aroanisation. I1 involves feelings, evaluation, beliefs, and behavior that the group and
group. Intergroup relations between two or more groups and their
success o f a

ave towards another

is members
often necessary to complete the work required to operate a business. In an
ective members

specrive here intergroup relations are positive amongst individuals, there is increase in productivity
the organisation a competitive edge. When intergroup relations
organisation

cational efficiency and gives

bgroups, it leads to the creation of a hostile environment, prejudice, and high
organ

and between

lIn other words, high intergroup relations intend to increase communication and
negative

re
of
conflicts.
chances

work-related groups and decrease the chances of dysfunctional competition. The

interaction between work
ility to
d and diagnose intergroup relations is the biggest challenge for any organization
understand

ablit allorcanisations. the production group must interact with the marketing and sales group and
Even i
commodate the finance group to ensure that all groups work in harmony to attain a common goal.
distinct
latergroup dynamic occurs when two groups interact. Each group is unique in itself; they have
characteristics, norms and structure but operate within an organization with standard rules, policies,
cre and objectives. The performance of each group affects the efficiency of the organisation.
relations need to be healthy and smooth for achieving the organisation's goals.
Therefore. Intergroup
Three types of
interaction requirements largely influence the performance of intergroup. These are the
following:
nterdependence Requirement: Group often work with and through othergroupsto accomplish
heir goals. There is high interaction required for achieving a goal. The nature of the task and its
interdependency decide the extent of interaction. High interdependency for completing the task
requires high interaction across groups and vice versa.
There are three different types of group interdependency, namely Pooled interdependence
(large groups are dependent on each other); Sequential interdependence (output of one group
becomes the input for another group); Reciprocal interdependence (when two or more groups
depend on one another for inputs).
2. Information Requirement: The optimum flow of information is required by the group members
to accomplish any task. Information flow requirement depends on the task's nature; if the task is
uncertain, high information is needed for its accomplisment. Ifthe task's uncertainty is less, less
information is required. For example, when groups are working on new product development,
they need more communication and cooperation. So for uncertain tasks, more clarity and a
Cordial group interaction
required.
are

ntegration Requirement: Quality of intergroup dynamics can aftect an organisation's

ertectiveness. Integration requirements mainly focus on cooperation, collaboration or structure
Each group within the
p s amongst groups to ensure overall success. organisation has
s objectives and goals to achieve. It is essential for an organisation to integrate all the efforts
anCngh
str of different groups for organisational success and to achieve the overall goals.
and he roup Dynamics i
ies is not a new concern, it was already researched in 1954 by Gordon Allport,
proposedaa theory called Contact theory. In his theory, he specitied that intergroupP contact is
70 1| Leadership and Team Development

good for improving intergroup relations, but usually, all contacts do not suffice. Four cond:
To reduce prejudice and discrimination,
requiredto intergroup
manage relations- n, have co
common
are

intergroup cooperation, and authorities' support. goals,

A critical aspect of leadership is managing inter-group relations and performance in the o
which can be
so they don't result in conflict, prejudice, and hostile environments, which organisa
detrimenta
organizational goals.

4.4 Managing Groups and Intergroup Dynamics

It's essential to sort the intergroup conflicts to manage the groups efficiently. Following are a feur
to manage the intergroup dynamics: ways
1. Rotating membership: Under this technique, the group members are temporarily put into the
rival group which helps them to understand another group's problem and procedures. It hel
to minimize the adverse effects of intergroup rivalry and build more understanding amongst
groups. As more and more people interact with subgroups, there will be mutual understanding
healthy interpersonal relations, and necessary coordination. ing,
2. Rules and procedure: In most organisations where intergroup interaction is high, they establish
rules andprocedures for smooth intergroup relations. For example, if groups are developing a
new product in an organization, there is a need for a
high flow of information between various
inter-related groups. The organisation may institute a new policy that there should be a time
interval for each group to disseminate all the latest information and report any further changes to
another group within that period. By just laying down new rules, communication becomes
easy,
and the chances of conflicts reduce.
3. Superordinate goals: Using superordinate identities to reduce prejudice and achieve goals
also help in lowering intergroup conficts. Emphasizing a subordinate identity helps subgroups
resolve conflicts and focus on superordinate goals that individuals can contribute to and help
achieve the overall goals. The superordinate objectives should be those that both subgroups can
fully support and contribute to accomplishing the goals.
4. Task interdependence: Another technique for reducing prejudice and enhancing intergroup
dynamics is interdependence. Their interdependence in accomplishing organisational goals will
increase the groups' proximity and build mutual understanding between them.
5. Linking roles: Linking role means a single person gets the charge for two or more groups ot tne
organisation. For example, a finance manager gets the charge of accounts, sales, and producti0n
of a product line. This
technique helps build cordial relations between the groups and efficientuy
complete the tasks with better communication and coordination.
6. Decoupling: This kind of situation also arises when two or more closely related groups are noot

ready to work together effectively. Here, organisations need to use the decoupling tecnm
Under this technique, the groups are separated physically or administratively so that tnet
interaction between the two for ational
minimum acconmplishing the task and achieving the organisatno
objective.
 Group Fffectiveness and Managing Groups || 71

45 Diverse Organisation

means derstanding that

unden each individualis unique or different. Diversity in the
simply
Diversity

isation refers ers to employees' heterogeneous composition in terms of age, culture, gender, origin,
race, maritaital status, religion, etc. Organisations that understand the importance of diversity
tcrkplace are found to perform better. Working with people of different backgrounds also allows
earn from each other and perform efficiently. A diverse workforce creates a positive
to lear
employees
the nment in the organization. A diverse work environment is essential in the moderm
and learming environm

competitive working world.

and
Eallowing are the reasons why diversity is required in any organisation:
1 Adiverse workforce quickly understands what precisely consumers need, and this
can help them
to serve them better.

competitive edge to the organisation over its competitors, increasing the

. Diversity provides a

market share and promoting the business's growth.

A diverse workforce with an equally treated workforce also encourages

individual contributions
that motivate them, making them more responsible.
4. Diversity also opens new perspectives and opportunities for the business.
5. Diversity helps in better decision making, and improved problem solving as people from
different backgrounds have different beliefs, norms and hence provide creative solutions.
6. The diverse group brings innovation and creativity to the organisation, which leads to better
product development and enhances successful marketing.

46 Chlenges of Diversity
Organisations also face some challenges because of a diverse workforce. Following are few such
challenges faced by an organisation:
1. Communication barriers: The biggest problem of a diverse workforce is the language barrier,
wherein there is a high risk of lost communication while translating the message to multicultural
Professional communication can be misinterpreted or difficult to understand, and
colleagues.
even non-verbal communication can also create misunderstanding among team members of
different countries.
. Frejudice and negative stereotypes: These are the biggest challenges for an organisation
calering to diverse cultures and are also difficult to overcome, especially when there is underlying
prejudice for some particular culture. It makes employees not inclined to work together as a
also create problems if any culture considers females as less
cam. Negative stereotypes can
efficient than men.
Diferent opinions: People from different backgrounds may have ditferent opinions, working
Syles, and attitudes that reflect their cultural values and norms. lt can create contlict in the
Eanisation and hamper productivity if it is not recognized and accounted for.

4. Resistant to different workplace attitudes,

Istant to change: Employees from different cultures bring
alues, behavior that make them resistant to change implied by the management
 72 I1 Leadership and Team Devclopment

5. Laws and regulation: This is the biggest challenge for Human resource professin
of cost incurred for recruiting diverse workers. The laws and regulations are in terms
country to country and change frequently. It is challenging to navigate the
din tems
ent from
other countries while managing a diverse workforce. employment laws of

4.7 Cultural Diversity

Figure 4.6
The phrase 'cultural diversity' means a range of different people with varying religions, origins, and
traditions living and interacting together. Cultural diversity in organisation indicates cultural differences
within the organisation. Due to globalisation and economic
changes, organisations worldwide now have
employees, client, and business associates belonging to diverse cultural backgrounds. The presence of
diverse people in an organisation affects work
behavior, as people from different backgrounds possess
different attitudes, values, and norms which is also called multiculturalism. It helps organisations to
understand diverse customers, serve them
better, and provides
a to the
competitive edge organisation
Over competitors.

According to C. Rasoda, "A system of beliefs and behaviors that recognizes and respecis ne
presence of all diverse groups in an
organization or society, acknowledges and values their soclo
Cultural diferences, and
encourages and enables their continued contribution within an
ncisi
cultural context empowers the organization and/or society."
working With a Culturally diverse group creates challenges for It
managers in any organisauo
increases the chance of conflicts and n
may also lead to a disrupted communication floW resu
poor [Link] is not easy to unite a culturally diverse group. It is even harder to motivare hem
to be productive and efficient for high
accomplishing the task, especially in those departmens D's
degree of interdependence for performing the task is
required. Another challenge lies in the lies in
dilerent beliels, working styles, and language barriers. The responsibility to break these Daroroup
the organisation's leader, particularly human resource professionals; they must ensure that ai n s run
p
members' issues are sorted, and they feel valued. Managing cultural diversity help organisa
efficiently, harmoniously, and make them more competitive in the global market.
 Group Effectiveness and
Managing Groups || 73
Managing diver diversity' is essential for
any
organisation's success as diversity in
vantages. On tthe other hand, it also the workforce
hrings
the
ings
many
brings different challenges, as discussed
Therefore managers and ieaders need to manage
chapter. Th
cultural diversity to earlier in
the uture.
p r e s e n ta n d i
empower them for the
nany ways to manage
There are a
culturaly diverse group.
arenabi
able the group members to come to
Following are
together make them a unit in the formfewof basic
a
strategies that
a
tladerstanding cultural differences: Organisations need to group:
1.
understand
diversities of their employees. It helps the organisation to serve different dimensions
them to understand their needs. them better and also enables
,
Orientation and support: Efective orientation helps new
ar hackerounds understand the organisation's new employees from different countries
culture and remove their fear and
Notable efforts taken by organisations for new hesitation.
employees and their families will
and make them feel valuable for the organisation. motivate them
Managerial intervention: In
diverse a
organisation, the manager may make a
intervene whenever they feel that cultural
diversity is blocking decision making. The policy to
responsibility is to encourage the team members to support each other to sort
managers'
out the
arising due to cultural diversity. problems
4, Adaptation: Adaption is the best strategy to tackle the problems
Group members need to acknowledge the cultural arising due to cultural diversity.
gaps and try to perform without
any in the task's basic nature.
change Adaption works well when members of the groupmaking try to
ind different ways to live with the cultural
differences and take responsibility for the same.
Most organisations
found adaptation as the best
strategy as little input is required from the
management.
5. Structural intervention: It is another very
powerful strategy to resolve the problem of cultural
diversity. Under this, the group is intentionally reorganized to avoid conflicts and
group's diversity by subdividing them into smaller groups. This helps increase manage the
chances of knowing each other and increases group members'
group cohesion as a smaller group generally has
high cohesion. Organisations use this strategy to manage
diversity in the groups. interpersonal friction and cultural
6. Exit: This is
usually
the last strategy used by the
organisation,
which is used when an individual
cannot work with the current and wants
group setup to move to another group. The
management
can remove a
member, or he/she
also move voluntarily to another group. Exit is the last
can
resort used by the management to manage a culturally diverse
group.

48 Importance of Managing Diversity

nd
Everwera of globalisation where there is worldwide economic integration, the marketplace,
Workplace are multicultural, diversity in the workplace is a topic of concern for an organisation.
Variesdversity is crucial but rewarding too. It can create problems but is essential to address the
1 o r organisational efficiency and to ascertain success. Following are the benefits of havingg a
managed diverse workgroup:
74 I1 Leadership and Team Development

1. Well managed diverse teams outperform homogeneous teams & vice versa.
2. It creates a reputation in the market and attracts the best employees.
3. Employees who feel valued & rewarded are more engaged & motivated.
4. It attracts and retains the best talent.
6. Provides a more significant opportunity for an individual 's personal and professional oro
A highly diverse group will not face prejudice and stereotypes. wth.
S. It helps in enhancing group effectiveness.
9. It reduces the issue of group thinking
Summay
Agroup's output generally exceeds the determined individual
satisfied and have good experience key standard. The group whose
are
working together are ready to work members
which creates an effective
group. Group effectiveness makes the together in the future too
eficient. But there organisation more
many threats of working in a group like
are productive and
communication, Conformity, diversity, and group cohesiveness Groupthink social loafing, miss
,

that hinder a
group's unity and harmony. Most of them are hard to fix, and group and affect the
they lead to massive
conflicts, more sigmificant
employee turnover, absenteeism, and sometimes can also financial
demise. It is, therefore essential to
loss, high
cause a company's
acknowledge these threats and plan strategies to prevent them.
Intergroup dynamics, also called intergroup
relationship between two or more groups. A highrelation,
refers to the behavioral and
degree of intergroup psychological
success of any dynamic
organisation. It involves feelings, evaluation, beliefs, and behaviour that theis essential for the
members have towards another group and its
group in the organisation. It's essential to
dynamics for the success of any
organisation. manage group and intergroup
Diversity in the organisation refers to
gender, origin, education, race, marital employees' heterogeneous composition in terms of age, culhure,
status, religion, etc.
workplace are found to perform better. It Organisations
of diversity in the that understand the
importance
working with people of different helps employees learn from each other while
backgrounds and
faced due to
diversity, so it's essential to implementperform efficiently. There are various challenges also
diverse centered policies and
regulation.

1.

2.
Discuss how managers can improve
Define group
( Self Assessment
intergroup dynamics.
effectiveness. How can a
3. manager manage the effectiveness of the team:
Explain cultural diversity.
What is the
4. What are the importance of diversity in any
challenges faced by organisations in the organisauo
5. Define
Groupthink. What are the different culturally diverse group?
6. What is Social strategies to prevent groupthink in any ?
loafing. Explain different strategies to go
7.
Diversity brings innovation, a new prevent social loafing
perspective, and creativity in any group. COu